Wednesday 3 May 2017

Rain has Appeared

As I write this, it's lunch time on the 3rd May and the conditions outside my window make it look like a typical winter's day. Heavy grey clouds are being sped across the sky on very cold NE winds and since early morning sheets of heavy drizzle and rain have blasted across the fields opposite. In short, it is cold, wet and windy and I have just briefly put the central heating on to take the chill off of the house, there is little sign of late Spring or early Summer yet.
April has now been officially recorded as one of the driest on record and last week, the end of the month, it was also bitterly cold, but for the gardens at least, our drought seems to be over for the moment. The regular bouts of rain that we've had this last few days have not been heavy or prolonged enough to make any difference to water levels on the marsh or the reserve but they have at least softened up the lawns and flower beds. If only the wind direction would now change for a prolonged spell, it seems to have been from a cold northerly direction for ages now and the forecast for the next seven days is more of the same.

It was heart-breaking during a brief, wet and cold visit to the reserve this morning, to see newly arriving swallows skimming low as possible across the marsh, heading into the bitter cold and rainy wind as they made their way north for the summer, insects must of been in very short supply! So, April was bone dry and rarely very warm and now May has started both cold and wet, it's looking pretty dire for wildlife so far. Talking of the reserve, thanks to April's drought, breeding counts continue to remain very low, just six broods of Lapwing chicks so far, at least 50% down on previous years by this time and just one successful Coot family. Unfortunately it's one of those situations that is out of the reserve management's hands, the water supply comes from one source, the skies above. All the storage areas available are of no use if they aren't re-filled by winter rains and not only that, in one of those vicious circle, can't win events, now we have some rain, that too could now be harmful because it's cold rain. Imagine those little fluffy, few days old plover chicks, getting soaking wet in this rain and then being chilled all day by an icy wind. Wildlife has very fine balances to negotiate a lot of the time.

13 comments:

  1. April drought.
    May, cold, wet, and windy
    Is flaming June the next!?

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    1. It'd be nice Gwil but it's a long time since we had one.

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  2. It's very interesting to read this new post from you, Derek. Your descriptions of how Spring is eluding Sheppey's flora and fauna really does reveal the challenges being faced.
    I am also reminded of how living in a city as I do really limits my exposure to nature. Even when you write about hardships nature is delivering, I am still fortunate to be able to learn so much. Many thanks.

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  3. Thanks Frances, I really ought to write more regularly again. For a person who has lived all of his life in or alongside the countryside, living in a city does not seem an attractive idea but I guess that there are elements of it that you wouldn't be without.

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  4. It really is quite a bleak miserable day Derek, isn't it. As much as we need the rain, we could do with a bit of warmth to kick-start the early summer.

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    1. Dead right Steve, the cold is the major enemy at the moment.

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  5. It really has been a disastrous year for the reserve with that lack of rain hasn't it Derek?

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    1. It certainly has Pat and it's very unlikely that the Lapwings will make a recovery now this year.

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  6. Your awareness of Nature is much more intimate than mine Derek. Thanks for sharing these worrying observations. If only there was someone called God watching everything, planning to make things okay in the end.

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  7. Unfortunately YP, as is proven every minute of the day, God is just a myth.

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  8. I don't suppose you had significant rain yesterday Derek.
    It keeps threatening here but never amounts to anything so now we too are short or rain and everywhere looks parched.
    I am glad to see that your replies are increasing.

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    1. Hi Pat,
      No we had no rain yesterday and like you, it's looking parched again. We finally had the sun come out at 4pm and are enjoying a nice evening out of the wind. Feel quite encouraged to see the comments building.

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  9. And unless something changes drastically in the next week or so the Blue/Great tits are going to have another poor breeding year. Can't see there being many caterpillars to satisfy the many gaping mouths.

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